Summer CSA Share #15

Welcome to the 15th share of the Pitchfork & Crow 2025 Summer CSA! Here’s what’s in the share this week:

Red Romaine Head Lettuce
Broccoli
Purple Cauliflower
Basil – Another big bunch while the basil is thriving. Here’s your chance to get some basil pesto in the freezer. Don’t forget that basil doesn’t like cold temps. We like to keep it in a glass of water on our kitchen counter, like flowers.
Fennel – A little anise flavor for your dishes this week. The fennel bulb is the star of the show here, but the fronds can be used too. The bulb can be sliced and roasted, braised, pickled, or eaten raw shaved into salads. We especially like making a simplified version of the fennel, onion, and cheese galette.
Carrots
Yellow Onion
Garlic
Sweet Corn – This week’s corn is on the small side but because we’ve only got a coupe more weeks of corn on the schedule we decided it’s better than no corn this week.
Romano Snap Beans – Use as you would other types of snap beans.
Cucumbers – Mixed green and silver slicers and a handful of lemons too. Shoutout to CSA member Coral R. who shared their go-to refrigerator pickle recipe with us a couple of weeks back and we agree it’s a keeper. The recipe says kirby cucumbers only but we used small-medium slicers and have been eating up the crisp pickles on everything. Check it out here and get some cukes pickling. You won’t regret it.
Zucchini & Summer Squash
“Roulette” No-Heat Habanero Peppers – A new-to-us variety of no-heat habanero peppers. These have all the flavor of a habanero without the heat!
Sweet Peppers – Mixed bell and Italian roasting peppers of varying colors. Most this week ripen to red.
Mixed Tomatoes – Pints of cherries and slicers this week. We’re using a lot of the pint boxes for tomatoes and would appreciate it if you could leave them behind or return them for another go around. Thanks!
Bartlett Pears – Many of these will be happy to ripen on your counter until they yellow up some.

^{The flowers at the front of the farm have become a chaotic wonder that’s difficult to photograph.}

When the calendar turns to September we can count on a handful of things happening. First, it’s time to get serious about the Winter CSA plans and memberships. Second, it’s time to sow the overwintering onions. Third, it must also be time for the annual trek to Corvallis to fetch our Salmon CSA-style share. And fourth, Jeff’s got a birthday to celebrate! This week we’re checking all the September boxes.

That’s right, the Winter CSA is now open to current and past CSA members. We’re giving you a chance to snag a spot first, but we’ll be opening it up to the wait list this coming weekend. You can find Winter CSA details here on our website and a link to the sign-up form in your email inbox. We’re currently 76% full after opening it last Friday, so raise your hand sooner than later if you want to reserve a spot.

^{Found a frog in the corn last night (top left), a shot of the not-hot habanero peppers (top right), and picking beans while the next round grows up (bottom).}

This past week was a whirlwind of Winter CSA invoices, bed prep, transplanting, overwintering onion seed sowing, carrot weeding, tractor cultivating, direct seeding fall greens in a greenhouse, and pear harvesting. It was one thing after another but we managed to mark some things off the To Do list. The days are already feeling shorter and we’re trying to pack all the things in to stay on schedule to get work done before we’re working around the return of the rain, and eventually frost.

^{Transplanting a few beds of winter kale and fall lettuce this past week. Also, checking in on some spring fennel that’s hopefully setting some seed (top right) and future romaine lettuce heads (bottom left).}

In the coming week we’ll be finishing up the last scheduled propagation of the season(!), more weeding and cultivating, and we’ve got a greenhouse to clear out and get ready for planting in a couple of weeks. On Thursday we’ll head over to Corvallis to grab our annual shares of canned and frozen filleted salmon and cod, which is always a welcome day on the calendar. I know quite a few of you also purchase fish through Iliamna Fish Co. and hope you feel just as happy when it’s time to resupply. And if we get our act together, perhaps we’ll get off the farm for a little hurrah for Jeff. Tomorrow is his birthday so give him a high five or a happy birthday or both when you see him this week.

Enjoy the vegetables and we’ll see you here next week!

Your farmers,
Carri Heisler & Jeff Bramlett

Here are a few recipes to get you inspired:

Roasted Sausage with Broccoli and Fennel

12 ounce (about 3 or 4 links) good-quality pork sausage, removed from casings and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 small heads of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and cut into thin slices, about 1/4-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
Finely grated zest and one 1 teaspoon of juice from 1 small lemon
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper, or a lesser amount of red pepper flakes or cayenne (omit if you’re using spicy sausage)

Step 1 Heat oven to 425° F.

Step 2 Combine broccoli florets and sliced fennel in a shallow casserole or baking dish. You want them to fit snugly in a single, even layer. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3 In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, whole-grain mustard, lemon juice and zest, and Aleppo pepper. Add to broccoli and fennel and toss well to coat evenly. Nestle the pieces of sausage among the broccoli and fennel.

Step 4 Roast for about 20 minutes, or until the broccoli and fennel are tender and the sausage is no longer pink. For extra security, you can toss about halfway through the cooking time to ensure even cooking.

Step 5 Optional but highly recommended: Heat broiler, and place the pan under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the sausage and slightly char the broccoli and fennel in spots.

Step 6 Taste and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From Food52.com by EmilyC, https://food52.com/recipes/25869-roasted-sausage-with-broccoli-and-fennel

Linguine Pasta with Sardines, Fennel, & Tomato

1 pinch Kosher or sea salt
1 tin sardines packed in olive oil (about 4 ¼ oz.)
1 splash extra virgin olive oil
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed, and roughly chopped (up to 3 cloves total, to taste)
1 small or ½ large bulb fennel, fronds reserved
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes, or more to taste
1 cup canned peeled tomatoes with their juice, gently crushed
2 ounce white (dry) vermouth
1 medium lemon, juice and zest
1/3 cup toasted bread crumbs
3/4 pound dry linguine

Step 1 Bring a very large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.

Step 2 Open the sardine tin and drain a tablespoon or so of the oil into a wide skillet (the amount of oil in the tin will vary by brand, so add additional extra virgin olive oil if necessary to make up a tablespoon). Warm the oil over medium-low heat and add the garlic, cooking until fragrant.

Step 3 Trim the fennel and slice the bulb very thinly (a mandoline works great here). Add to the skillet with a sprinkle of salt, raise the heat to medium, and cook until the fennel is soft and beginning to caramelize. Add the chile flakes and let them sizzle for a minute, just until fragrant, then add the tomatoes with their juice. Cook until the liquid is reduced, then add the vermouth and let that reduce slightly.

Step 4 Add the sardines to the skillet with the tomato and fennel mixture, breaking up slightly but leaving some chunks. Zest the lemon and combine a tablespoon or so of zest with the toasted breadcrumbs, then set aside. Juice the lemon and add the juice to the pan. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.

Step 5 Add the linguine to the boiling salted water, cooking it until it is just short of al dente. Using tongs, transfer the linguine to the sauce to finish cooking, adding a little bit of the starchy pasta water and tossing gently to combine. (You’ll want to leave this a little wet, as the breadcrumbs will soak up the sauce and dry the pasta out a bit once you’ve added them.)

Step 6 Transfer the pasta and sauce to a large warmed serving bowl (or individual pasta bowls), add a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle on the toasted breadcrumb-lemon zest mixture, and garnish with picked small fennel fronds and the remaining lemon zest.

From Food52.com by LastNightsDinner, https://food52.com/recipes/9065-linguine-with-sardines-fennel-tomato

Ricotta-Corn-Basil Crostini with Chopped Tomatoes

2 cup fresh ricotta
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1/2 cup thinly sliced basil
1 lemon zested
Maldon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
splash Good olive oil
2 multigrain baguettes, thinly sliced
6 plum tomatoes, chopped

Step 1 In a bowl mix together ricotta, corn, basil, lemon zest, 2 to 3 tablespoons of good olive oil, a few pinches Maldon, and freshly ground black pepper.

Step 2 Douse tomatoes with good olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stir.

Step 3 Spread a layer of the ricotta mixture onto each baguette slice. Top with tomatoes a pinch of Maldon salt, and freshly ground pepper.

From Food52.com by Modern Family Cooking – Nicole, https://food52.com/recipes/22820-ricotta-corn-basil-crostini-with-chopped-tomatoes